For years, in-wall subs were either wimpy little things that shook your walls and boomed uncontrollably, or chunky units that required walls built on 2x6 studs instead of 2x4s. Two years ago, though, Earthquake Sound and Definitive Technology introduced in-wall subs with shallow drivers that could fit in a standard stud bay. Both sound nice, but neither delivers the kind of output and extension required for large, high-performance home theater systems.

---

The RCC 600's frame clamps four oval-shaped woofers in pairs facing each other, so they cancel out vibration. (Click image to enlarge)

---

Artison's RCC 600 is the first of a new wave of high-performance subs that can be mounted in a standard 14.5-inch-wide, 3.5-inch-deep stud bay. How did Artison pack such major woofage into such a slim in-wall? By rethinking the driver layout. Instead of a big woofer (or two), Artison uses four 3.5-by-5.5-inch oval woofers, and turns them on their sides. This design provides both compactness and mechanical efficiency. The RCC 600 does not shake your walls to any significant degree, because the cones move up and down instead of front-to-back, and also because it groups pairs of woofers facing each other; the woofers cancel each other's vibrations because they move in opposite directions. The frame securing the woofers is made from bulk molding compound, a fiberglass-reinforced polyester putty that hardens into a strong, inert mass ideal for speaker construction.

The RCC 600 mounts with screws and doglegs much as other in-wall speakers do. For the best performance, Artison recommends using its optional enclosure (or "back box"), which requires removing drywall, mounting the box inside the stud bay, then drywalling over it.

Not content to mail-order a generic amp from Taiwan, the Artison engineers had one purpose-built to drive the RCC 600. It's a 600-watt Class D (i.e., digital) amplifier in a rack-mountable chassis; the amp can drive one or two woofer modules. The compact amp will probably end up banished to an equipment closet, but it'll likely be the coolest-looking thing in that closet. Purple and blue halos surround its chrome-plated control knobs.

An automatic equalizer circuit fine-tunes the RCC 600's sound to suit your room's acoustics. Just plug in the supplied microphone, place the mic in your favorite listening chair, hit a button on the back of the amp, and after 40 seconds of test tones, your bass is perfected—at least in theory.

---

A basic credit-card-sized remote lets you adjust volume and access music and movie subwoofer modes. These commands can (and should) be programmed into a learning remote or a touchscreen. (Click image to enlarge)

---

My in-wall testing facilities are down and awaiting a new home (marriage is wonderful but it's not the best career move for an audio reviewer). So I tested the RCC 600 woofers mounted in Artison's supplied enclosures, pushed against my walls.

It's obvious to anyone who hears an action movie through the RCC 600 that this subwoofer system is up to the task of producing deep, loud bass. None of my DVD torture tracks—the opening of Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the brontosaurus stampede in King Kong—seems to challenge the RCC 600. My entire room shakes, my chair vibrates, and my dog leaves the room annoyed. I then pull out the most challenging bass test I possess, a Telarc recording of Joseph Jongen's "Symphony Concertante" that plumbs the bottom depths of the Ruffati organ in San Francisco's Davis Symphony Hall. This CD contains notes so low that very few subwoofers can reproduce it properly; I seldom even bother to try it. This time I do, and the RCC 600 responds with subtle yet powerful vibrations I cannot really hear but I certainly can feel.

The definition of the RCC 600 impresses me; I hear the "growl" of acoustic bass as the player digs into the strings. It doesn't have quite the upper-bass punch of the world's very finest subwoofers, but it's not far off their mark.

For most of my listening, I put the two woofer modules in the front corners of my room—a pretty good strategy according to audio researchers. In this position, the auto-equalizer actually seems to rob the RCC 600 of some of its definition; I like the sound better with the EQ switched off. The bottom notes sound fine but the EQ seems to muddy the top notes in the bass range. I then try moving both subs near the center of the room—a pretty bad strategy according to audio researchers—and recalibrate the equalizer. This time, it has a positive effect. The sound without the EQ is boomy and undefined; with the EQ, it clears up quite a bit. Thus, the EQ will probably help only if your installer is forced to mount the woofer modules in acoustically disadvantageous locations.

I consider the RCC 600 to be the first truly high-performance in-wall subwoofer. Its natural habitat is the large media room, where both performance and visual aesthetics are important. But really, it makes sense in any room where you want a high-powered subwoofer system—from a home office to a 25-seat personal screening room.

---

The amp powers one or two woofer modules, and includes automatic equalization circuitry that can improve the sound in situations where the sub modules cannot be mounted optimally. (Click image to enlarge)

---

DESCRIPTION
In-wall subwoofer system, comprising 600-watt amplifier and one or two speaker modules. Can be mounted in drywall; enclosures optional.

COMPONENTS
Woofer module: four 3.5 x 5.5-inch poly cone drivers

CONNECTIONS
Woofer module: spring clips for speaker cables
Amplifier: XLR balanced mono input, RCA stereo audio input, 3.5mm jack for mic input, 3.5mm jack for IR input, block connector for 12-volt trigger input

DIMENSIONS
Woofer module: 23.5 x 9.5 x 4.2 inches (hwd)
Amplifier: 3.2 x 18.5 x 13.3 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: woofer module $1,000 each, amplifier $1,000
CONTACT: 775.833.4344, www.artisonusa.com